


Routine

by XFangHeartX



Series: One Piece Prompts [2]
Category: One Piece
Genre: Adventure, F/M, Gen, Nakamaship, Napping, Routine
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-19
Updated: 2018-05-19
Packaged: 2019-05-08 21:18:29
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 5,947
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14702520
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/XFangHeartX/pseuds/XFangHeartX
Summary: In which we see the Straw Hats’ daily routine in the New World.





	Routine

**Author's Note:**

> One Piece © Oda
> 
> Blizzard, Monkey D. Aika, and Kumi © Me

 5:58 am. The sun has barely risen and the sky is a deep blue. The  _Thousand Sunny_  floats upon the ocean’s surface. All is quiet…until there is the twang of a guitar, followed by screeching.  
  
 “BROOK!! FOR GOD’S SAKE, THE SUN’S NOT EVEN UP YET!!! GO BACK TO SLEEP!!!!”  
  
 Zoro throws his boot into Brook’s skull, silencing the skeleton and buying everyone at least another hour of sleep.  
  
 6:58 am. Luffy still snores as he hugs his pillow, which is stained with drool. Nami still lies beside him, her ear canals corked shut with earplugs, as she dreams sweet, peaceful dreams of swimming in a mountain of gold…but the dream is soon interrupted as she feels a smaller body pulling itself up onto the bed and crawling towards her. The navigator smiles before opening one tawny brown eye and seeing the sweet smile of Aika greeting her. No words spoken, she pets the child’s hair and kisses her gingerly on the forehead.  
  
 Aika giggles before she turns to her older half-brother before shifting into her wolf form and pouncing upon his shoulder. Luffy snorts as he wakes up, startled at first, but he sees the smiling face of his younger half-sister, and he grins as he proceeds to tickle her tummy in revenge for waking him up.  
  
 7:05 am. The Straw Hats begin to prepare for the day. They wash up via the bath or the shower, get dressed, brush their teeth, comb their hair, and wash their faces. Although, Luffy seems to forgo this, wanting to head to the kitchen for a pre-breakfast snack instead. Aika stops him, asking him to help her brush her teeth, since she is not tall enough to reach the mirror. The older D. agrees, holding the younger in his arms as she brushes back and forth and up and down for a good 3 minutes before she finally spits out the cinnamon-flavored froth into the sink.  
  
 7:30 am. Breakfast is ready: French toast topped with peach syrup and sprinkled with powdered sugar, as well as fried eggs on the side. Luffy only has about two, for he does not want to feel sick to his stomach for the rest of the morning. He gives what he has left to Aika, who happily eats whatever she can, and whatever is left, she secretly feeds to Blizzard and Kumi, who hide under the table as they wait for scraps to fall onto the floor. As everyone eats, Usopp tells Chopper a story of how he won the friendship of a rhino-like monster just by standing perfectly still, and Aika and Luffy are also amazed. Everyone else either roll their eyes or chuckle in amusement.  
  
 7:55 am. Breakfast is done, and Sanji is left to wash the dishes. Aika stays with him to help out, drying the dishes off for the cook and putting them in neat stacks. Once finished, Sanji rewards Aika with a cinnamon cookie before gently shooing her out to go play as he puts the dishes in the cabinet.  
  
 8:00 am. Nami begins work on her maps. She puts on her glasses and pulls her hair back into a ponytail before grabbing her quill and beginning to work. Robin quietly sits behind her, reading a history book, while she absentmindedly pets Blizzard’s head, which is propped up in her lap as he snores softly. Sanji comes in to serve them coffee and fruit tarts for a snack (whilst keeping Luffy and Chopper away) before leaving after the girls compliment on his work.  
  
 8:25 am. As Nami still works, Luffy and Usopp try to fish for lunch, but mostly because they’re bored. The only sound they hear is Aika’s laughter as she runs around the lawn with Kumi playfully chasing after her, Zoro’s soft snoring, and Brook tuning his guitar. Luffy yawns as he props a hand up and rests his chin in his palm, but no sooner does he do so that there’s a tug on his fishing line, and soon, he is nearly pulled into the sea, had Usopp not been there to save him literally by the seat of his pants. Zoro immediately awakes upon hearing the sniper’s shouts and is prepared to jump into action, even if it seems Usopp has things under control. As the captain and sniper pull, there is a humungous splash of water, and the duo fall down on deck, right on their backs.  
  
 They look up, and there’s a giant sea king, glowering down at them. Usopp and Brook scream as they run to hide, and Aika and Kumi quickly take cover, too. Luffy grins as his arms are imbued with Haki, and Zoro stands beside him with swords at the ready. With a combined Jet Pistol and Ultra Tiger Hunt attack, the beast is felled, and Zoro cuts up as much sections of the monster’s flesh as he can for Sanji to store.  
  
 The Straw Hats will eat good tonight.  
  
 9:00 am. Luffy gets hungry again and tries to sneak himself a snack. “Tries” being the keyword. He doesn’t get far before Sanji catches him and shoos him out, telling him to wait until lunch, and leaving the captain to sulk. Aika comes in not long after, and at first, Luffy thinks she’s trying to take advantage of her cuteness to appeal to Sanji’s better nature in order to get herself a cookie…but as she comes out with two cinnamon cookies, she gives one to her brother, who smiles and pets her as he eats it.  
  
 9:30 am. Boredom comes around again, so Luffy decides to play a game with Aika and Kumi. Usopp and Chopper join in, as well. The captain gathers some water balloons, about an armful or so, and tells them that the last one who doesn’t get wet wins. With that, the game was on. Luffy sits on the railing of the upper deck and tosses the water balloons without a single warning, leaving the four to scatter around, dodging. Aika and Kumi did pretty well with their dodging, the former being in her animal form as she ran around swiftly, while Usopp narrowly avoided getting hit. Chopper was the first to get splashed, however, but the little reindeer took his loss well. He even noted how refreshing it was on such a humid day.  
  
 As the game went on, Zoro came outside, but he was soon hit in the face by a stray water balloon. Growling in anger, the swordsman glared up at Luffy, who grinned sheepishly as he muttered a quick apology. Unfortunately, it did nothing to appease his wrath. Before he knew it, Zoro was on top of him with 3 swords drawn, and Luffy shrieks as he runs around the ship, with Usopp, Chopper, Aika, and Kumi standing aside so as not to be caught up in the pursuit. The captain soon cries out Nami’s name, and the navigator, pulled away from her work by all the ruckus, comes outside and clocks Zoro on the head for chasing Luffy even though he apologized, and then she gently scolds Luffy for interrupting her.  
  
 She then promptly tells the mischievous group to clean up the mess on deck before going back to the library.  
  
 For the time being, no more games that involve water balloons, or anything else wet for that matter. Less chance of Zoro and Nami getting mad that way.  
  
 10:30 am. An island is within sight. Luffy and Aika start whooping and hollering (and howling in the latter’s case) to get everyone’s attention. Nami, having finished her map early, smiles at the opportunity to add one more to her map of the world, and since one of the needles of the Log Pose was pointing to it, anyway, she gives the okay to go ashore.  
  
 The island consists of mostly forest, with tall redwood trees and mountainous areas, a vast plain, as well as inhabited by butterflies and other insects. The D. Siblings, eager to explore, are the first to disembark, Sanji giving them both Pirate Lunchboxes made with the Sea King from earlier, and Kumi follows after them. Nami goes off with Robin to make measurements of the island so she can add it to her map. Zoro stays behind with Brook, Franky, and Sanji, guarding the ship, while Usopp and Chopper attempt to hunt for the local insects, the latter hoping to catch a Hercules beetle if he should happen to catch a glimpse of one.  
  
 Blizzard goes out to get some hunting done for Sanji, just to get some extra meat in storage so Luffy won’t complain about there being no food.  
  
 11:24 am. The D. Siblings and Kumi continue their exploration after eating their lunchboxes. Luffy stands perched, surveying the horizon, but Aika dashes on ahead, eagerly, despite her older half-brother’s warnings, and doing so prompts Kumi to follow her in an attempt to get her back, but not long after, Luffy hears Aika’s piercing screams and a yell of “BIG BROTHER!!! HELP!!!”, and following that is the screaming roar of a cougar.  
  
 It only takes that moment for the older D. carrier to switch into “Protective Big Brother” mode. Without any hint of hesitation, he leaps into action, jumping down towards the bottom of the hill and he lands with a loud  **THUD!!**  As Aika and Kumi hurry passed him, the cat stops dead in his tracks upon seeing Luffy’s deadly glare.  
  
 “Get lost,” he hissed, and that is more than enough to send the cougar running back into the bushes with his tail between his legs.  
  
 Aika cheers before she runs up and hugs Luffy’s leg, causing him to grin as he pets hers and Kumi’s heads gently.  
  
 They decide to head back to the Sunny for the time being.  
  
 11:45 am. Nami returns to the ship first, alongside Robin, and the latter is soon greeted by Zoro, who gives her a soft kiss on the cheek, prompting her to do the same in return, only for Blizzard, who is carrying a severed alligator’s tail in his mouth, to come bursting in between them, and, being such a big dog now after the 2 years on Rusukaina, he almost makes Zoro topple over on his back.  
  
 “Damn dog!!” Zoro barked, but the wolf-dog just continues on while holding the reptilian appendage in his jaws and carrying it to the kitchen, where Sanji waits. The cook praises the crew’s guard dog for bringing such a good catch, even though the rest of it got away from him, and puts it in an icebox to preserve it for another time.  
  
 11:47 am. Nami is back in the library, about to add the island to her world map. Brook momentarily pops in with the usual question of “Miss Nami, may I see your panties?”  
  
 “Get out, Brook, before I break your jaw!”  
  
 “SO HARSH!!!”  
  
 And out he goes, leaving Nami to her work. Soon after, Aika comes in, she, Kumi, and Luffy having just returned. The Honshu Wolf Girl sets a rock, as black as night with sparkly mica in it, on the desk, claiming that she brought it to Nami as a present. Nami smiles as she picks Aika up and sets her in lap, giving her a small kiss of gratitude on her cheek before she continues her map.  
  
 “You can stay if you’re quiet,” she tells her.  
  
 Aika agrees, but Nami begins to hate the quiet and grows bored, so she asks Aika about what she and her brother saw during their little exploration around the island. The Wolf Girl answers that she saw a blue hedgehog with red sneakers, zooming through the forest, but by the time she got Luffy’s attention, it was gone. Nami assured her it was probably just her imagination, but Aika remained firm to her beliefs.  
  
 “You really are your brother’s sister,” the navigator mused.  
  
 12:12 pm. Nami’s finished her map, but she feels a bit of a numbness in her legs. She looks and she sees Aika, in Wolf Form, curled up on her lap, sound asleep. Nami sighed, but then smiled as she gently strokes her adopted little sister’s hair.  
  
 As cute as it is, though, the navigator couldn’t have Aika in her lap forever. She needed to stand up, but she couldn’t bring herself to rouse the Wolf Girl out of her sleep. Who knows for how long she had dozed off?  
  
 “Lunch is ready~!”  
  
 Aika throws her head up, her eyes wide open and awake as she hears Sanji’s voice.  
  
 “Lunch!” she cheers, and she soon bounds off, running out the library and into the kitchen. Nami sighed before she stood up, shaking her legs free of the pins and needles.  
  
 “Thank goodness for Sanji,” she said before going to eat.  
  
 12:16 pm. Everyone is now in the galley, eating a finely prepared alligator tail steak with sliced sweet potatoes and cherry tomatoes on the side. Luffy doesn’t eat the tomatoes, so he gives them to Nami instead. Aika, being the polite girl that she is, eats her vegetables without complaint.  
  
 Meanwhile, Blizzard and Kumi are eating their steaks as well, but the latter finds that she has finished hers already. The pup looks over at the wolf-dog’s bowl, where his steak still lies intact, hot and steaming with the juices seeping out of the meat. Licking her chops, Kumi decides to take a chance and bites onto the steak. However, Blizzard soon notices her and bites on the other end, and soon, the dogs are in all-out canine-style tug-of-war, at which the others can’t help but laugh.  
  
 Eventually, Blizzard is the victor, but he shows Kumi good sportsmanship and decides to share some of his spoils with her.  
  
 12:29 pm. Luffy is now taken a post-lunchtime nap, his stomach ballooned out to at least 5 times its normal size. As he snores, Aika, in her Wolf Form, is curled up on his belly, also fast asleep. However, her slumber is interrupted when she hears a small beckoning whisper. The child blinks her eyes awake as she looks up and sees Usopp and Kumi, holding cans of paint and brushes, big and small.  
  
 “Wanna help us give Sunny a fresh new coat of paint?” asked the sniper.  
  
 Aika gasped eagerly before she jumps off her older half-brother’s balloon belly, any sign of sleepiness instantly gone, as she goes to join them in the painting. Things seem to go well…but it turns out be a bit boring, too, so Usopp decides to spice things up a bit. He calls Aika over and- without warning- dabs a bit of red paint on her nose. Aika giggles before she dips her hands into the yellow paint and leaves a handprint on his right cheek. Kumi giggles as she watches from afar, but even she is not safe, for she soon finds herself being splattered with an array of various colors.  
  
 It soon becomes an all-out paint war. Reds, yellows, blues, oranges, and greens, spraying and splashing around the ship, decorating the walls, rails, rigging, and even the grass with various colors. Even Luffy, still in a food coma, is not safe from the rain of paint.  
  
 It’s only until Franky comes outside and screams bloody murder that the paint-war stops. After a scolding, Usopp gets to work on cleaning while Nami takes Aika and Kumi for a bubble bath.  
  
 12:40 am. Aika and Kumi are now out of the tub and are romping around together out on deck while Blizzard lies in the shade, snoozing. However, the wolf-dog’s ears perked up and twitched, and soon after, he raises his head up and growls viciously as he spots a Marine battleship heading towards them. He barks, alerting the rest of the crew to get into battle stations. He then gently herds the youngsters of the crew inside, so they can avoid danger.  
  
 With that, it’s time to fight.  
  
 Luffy knocks out some of the soldiers with his Conqueror’s Haki while he goes for the Captain while the rest of the Straw Hats go for the grunts. Nami attacks with her Thunder Trap while Zoro cuts them down swiftly with his blades. Usopp shoots the soldiers down, one-by-one with his Bamboo Javelin, just as Choppers mows down any others in his Horn Point form. Sanji roars with blazing fury as he sends the Marines flying off the ship with his powerful kicks. Robin uses her Clutch attack to break a spine or two…or several, and Franky stands back-to-back with Brook as he fires his Weapons Left and Brook cuts down any other Marine with his Blizzard Slice. Blizzard, meanwhile, bites down on any Marines’ skulls with his Haki-imbued fangs.  
  
 Concurrently, Luffy does battle with the Marine Captain, who tries to cut him down with a cutlass, but the Straw Hat Captain easily avoids the swings of the blade with his Conqueror’s Haki. He jumps back, imbues his arm with Haki, and swiftly decks his opponent with little to no effort at all.  
  
 With that single move, the battle is won, the Marines flee, and the Straw Hats take their leave.  
  
 1:07 pm. The Straw Hats still can’t take the time to relax, even after that little scuffle, for Nami has predicted that a giant cyclone was headed their way. The wind picks up, and the Straw Hats scramble to keep the ship stable. Luffy and Blizzard try their damnedest to furl up the sails while Sanji steers the ship. Robin, using her powers, tries to tie down anything would break or shatter with help from Usopp and Brook. Chopper does his leveled best to keep his medicine from falling out of the cabinet, as well as Zoro, and down below deck, Franky keeps his cola from spilling everywhere. Aika and Kumi are forced to stay inside to keep from getting swept up in the powerful wind outside.  
  
 1:14 pm. 7 long minutes later, after using a Coup de Burst to escape, things have finally begun to calm down. Luffy takes a moment to comfort his sister, who was a bit shaken up by the storm. Blizzard does the same with Kumi, lightly licking her face to keep her calm.  
  
 1:30 pm. The crew arrives at another island, and this one has a town this time, and it just so happens there’s a fair going on. Aika excitedly pulls on Luffy’s sleeve and points to the Ferris wheel, shouting “Let’s get on it, Big Brother!”  
  
 Not one to disappoint his little sister, Luffy agrees to take her, and even Nami and Kumi come along. They get themselves a few snacks on the way, such as fried noodles, cotton candy, and some takoyaki.  
  
 As they get arrive at the Ferris wheel, they find there’s still a car left, so they soon get on board. The youngsters smile in awe as they watch everything from the window, while Nami leans on Luffy’s shoulder with a tired smile. The Straw Hat Captain smiles before putting his arm around her and kissing her forehead lightly.  
  
 1:45 pm. The ride was over, and Nami yawned as she stepped off with Luffy’s help, the navigator having dozed off a bit.  
  
 They soon met up with Usopp, who had won Chopper a prize for knocking over dolls: a glow-stick, and then with Zoro, who was playing a game of ring toss and won a prize for Robin: a plush doll that looked like a girl in a rather revealing dark blue sailor suit uniform for school girls, and the suit itself seemed to have some kind of a scar over its “eye”. They later found Sanji and Franky, both having gotten off a roller coaster ride, but the former seemed rather shaken, and after that, they found Blizzard, who was watching Brook singing and playing a song for a crowd of children.  
  
 Having had their fun, the Straw Hats decide that it’s time to go, so they all boarded the ship and set sail.  
  
 2:00 pm. Nami is back in the library, drawing another map. She feels a bit bored, though, so she gets up to go see if Aika wanted to do anything with her. Even after such an eventful time at the fair, earlier, the 6-year-old was always such a bundle of energy, probably even more so than her brother. As she goes outside, she sees Aika braiding Blizzard’s fur and even tying little ribbons into. This time, she used blue ribbons instead of the red ones.  
  
 Ever the patient one, Blizzard just lies on the deck, whimpering in humiliation.  
  
 Nami smiles at them before her face lights up, having gotten an idea. She calls Aika over and then takes her to the vanity in hers and Luffy’s room. The captain wasn’t in there, right now, more than likely sitting on the figurehead outside. Nami sits Aika down on the chair, and then carefully brushes her hair. It’s a bit tangled, and the pull from the bristles hurt a bit, but Aika doesn’t fidget. After Nami gets out the tangles, she ties Aika’s hair up in a little bun and even sets in place with hairpins. The one thing she doesn’t remove is the wolf girl’s precious light blue butterfly hairclip. Instead, she sets some other burettes, one with pink hairs, on the other end.  
  
 Aika laughs, loving her new hairdo, before she switches places with Nami so she do her hair next, but she found it a bit harder than she thought, due to the navigator being older and taller than her. Nami leaves for a moment, but then comes back with a chair for Aika to stand on so she can reach her head better. Then, the girl proceeds to brush the navigator’s head, gently pulling out any tangles and knots. Then, she parts it, braiding the gorgeous orange locks into two long pigtails, tying them with pretty yellow ribbons, and for a final touch, she puts a yellow flower burette into the right side of Nami’s hair.  
  
 Then, Robin enters the mix, having wondered where Nami went off to. Upon seeing the historian, Nami grins as she sits her down in front of the vanity mirror with Aika sitting in Robin’s lap. Then, Nami ever so gently brushes the older woman’s long, black locks, and even adds a little bit of oil at the top for a bit of shine. Then, Aika slips colorful beads on a couple of strands, mostly purple, pink, and lime green while Nami ties up the rest in a ponytail.  
  
 Satisfied, the girls decide to go out and show their new hairstyles to the rest of the crew, who, needless to say, were quite impressed…some more than others.  
  
 “Pick up your jaw, Luffy, it’s on the ground.”  
  
 “Yours is, too, Zoro.”  
  
 “Oh, shut up, Usopp!”  
  
 This only earned a good laugh from everyone.  
  
 2:26 pm. Luffy is bored again, so he decides to pester Sanji for a snack, again. As he gets into the kitchen, he sees Sanji and Aika, decorating a cake, frosted white and flowers with purple icing. Aika can’t help but sneak a taste of the icing, though, to Sanji’s amusement. The cake is not meant to be eaten until tonight, for dessert, but Sanji thanks Aika for helping him bake it, anyway and gives her a cookie as a reward. Aika leaves, but split’s the cookie in half and gives one half to Luffy before heading back out.  
  
 2:35 pm. Zoro wakes up from his second nap and gets up to get himself a drink, but as he’s walking passed various crew members, he can hear them snickering behind his back for some reason. When he gets to the kitchen, he sees his reflection in the porthole window…and practically yells in horror upon seeing various doodles drawn on his face, consisting of a red swirl-y sun, pink paw prints, and green polka dots. Not long after, he hears the laughter of Luffy, Aika, and Blizzard going on in the background, and with that, the swordsman chases them around the deck, leaving them to scream in fright…well, Luffy laughed, Aika and Blizzard were the ones who were screaming.  
  
 Again, Nami is pulled away from her work to berate not just Zoro, but Luffy and Blizzard for setting a bad example for Aika.  
  
 3:00 pm. Nami has finished adding another island to her map, but now feels rather tired. She yawns and stretches her arms before she gets up and goes outside, only to see Luffy snoring as he lies on Blizzard’s right side. The navigator smiles as she approaches the snoozing captain, and then she lies down beside him, her arms wrapped around his torso. As if he knew, Luffy positioned himself so that Nami lied on his chest, making a small sigh as he did so. Blizzard, having been stirred by the navigator’s appearance, smirked at them before continuing his nap.  
  
 3:25 pm. Naptime is interrupted by small whimpering noises. Luffy wakes up and he is soon met by his sister’s teary-eyed face. Upon seeing them, Luffy is immediately on full alert and asks what’s wrong.  
  
 “I can’t find Timber…!” Aika answers with a sniffle. “I looked all over the ship for him, Big Brother!”  
  
 Luffy looked at Aika worriedly, chewing his lip in concern. He knew how much Aika loved her gray wolf plush doll, Timber, and if she couldn’t find him…  
  
 “Um…Aika, I’ll be right back,” he told her before he walked off. After 10 minutes, he returned, holding a light blue plush monkey with a sand-colored mouth, face, and tummy.  
  
 “Isn’t that your plush monkey, Bananas?” Aika asked. “The one that Big Sis gave you?”  
  
 “You can have him,” Luffy said. “I don’t need him anymore.”  
  
 “Really?” Aika asked, and Luffy nodded, a gentle smile on his features. The Honshu Wolf Girl smiled back before taking the blue monkey in her arms. Its shiny beady eyes look up at her with a smile stitched with black thread. She smiles before cuddling the plush primate, and then looks up at Luffy before going up and hugging his leg, prompting him to pet her gently on the head.  
  
 4:00 pm. Nami is now in the bathhouse, about to take a nice relaxing bath. Plus, she wanted to try out some new bath salts she got from an island the crew had docked at yesterday. Once the water is ready, she undresses and takes a dip in the tub. The navigator sighs as she feels the stress of the day melt away from her body, but as she looks up, her eyes suddenly go wide…for Brook’s soul is hovering over her, a droplet of blood trickling out of his nostril.  
  
 “KYAAAAAAAAAAAAA~!!!! BROOK, GET OUT, YOU PERVERT!!!!”  
  
 With a shriek, Brook flies of with Nami’s bath time ruined.  
  
 5:00 pm. It’s almost sundown, and dinner should be prepared soon, but Sanji’s hit a big of a snag: the oven overheated making the cake from earlier and blew out a bulb, meaning that the cook had no way to prepare the meal he was going to make tonight until Franky bought a replacement bulb.  
  
 “But what are we gonna eat for dinner?!” Luffy asked, his stomach growling right on cue.  
  
 “Maybe we’ll find another island and eat there,” Nami suggested.  
  
 “But who knows how long that will take?” Usopp asked. “And even if we do land, the island might not have the bulb Franky’s looking for!”  
  
 “Well, we can’t just sit here and do nothing,” Sanji said. “I can’t let everyone go hungry.”  
  
 “I can already feel my stomach rumbling,” Brook chimed in. “Ah! But I don’t have a stomach! Yohohoho!”  
  
 “Hey, Blizzard?” Chopper asked. “You don’t think that Luffy is gonna eat us, do you? I mean…he does get that way.”  
_  
“I don’t think so,”_  Blizzard answered.  _“Luffy gets desperate for food, but not that desperate.”  
_  
 “Hey!”  
  
 Everyone looked upon hearing Zoro call out to them from the Crow’s Nest.  
  
 “Aika and I spotted a small ship off starboard!” the swordsman exclaimed.  
  
 “What’s it look like?” Robin asked.  
  
 “It’s kinda far to see,” Aika started, “but all I know is that the sails have the number 8 written on it!”  
  
 “Number 8?” Nami repeated.  
  
 “Maybe we should get a closer look,” Brook suggested.  
  
 “Can’t hurt to try!” Luffy added. “Let’s go check it out!”  
  
 And so they did, and as they drew closer to the ship that Zoro had found…imagine their surprise: it was the  _Takoyaki 8_ , with Hachi, Camie, and Pappug.  
  
 “Whoa!” Luffy exclaimed. “It’s you guys, again!”  
  
 “Camie, dear~!” Sanji swooned with hearts in his eyes.  
  
 “Straw Hat!” Hachi greeted.  
  
 “Luffy-chin!” Camie cheered.  
  
 “Well, aren’t you all a sight for sore eyes?” Pappug asked.  
  
 “It’s been a while, hasn’t it?” Nami asked. “Hachi, I see you’ve recovered nicely since that little mishap on Fishman Island!”  
  
 “Nyuu~! Thank you, Nami!” Hachi answered. “It’s so good to see you!”  
  
 “What are you all doing way out here?” Robin asked.  
  
 “Ah, we just thought we’d get the ol’  _Takoyaki 8_  running again,” Pappug answered. “You know, a business trip and all that stuff!”  
  
 “What a coincidence,” Sanji said. “Our oven broke down and I don’t have any way of making dinner tonight.”  
  
 “Ooh!” Luffy exclaimed. “That means takoyaki for dinner, right?!”  
  
 “What do you guys think?” Hachi asked, turning to his two partners. “Should we fire up the grill for our old friends here? Nyuu~!”  
  
 “Of course!” Camie answered.  
  
 “Do you even need to ask?” Pappug asked. “Let’s do it!”  
  
 “WHOO-HOO!!!” Luffy cheered. “All right! Takoyaki for dinner!!”  
  
 And so, the Takoyaki Trio got to work in cooking. As they did, Aika snuck behind the grill to get a good look at Camie and Hachi. It was her first time seeing an actual mermaid and Fishman, so she was naturally curious. She approached Camie and spoke with her, and the two hit it off rather well…but then, during her little chitchat with Aika, Camie had accidentally left part of the grill unattended, causing her to burn some of the takoyaki.  
  
 “AAAAAAHH~!!!” Camie screamed with her comical shock face. “I GOOFED AGAIN!!!”  
  
 “I’m sorry!” Aika cried. “I didn’t meant to distract you!”  
  
 “I’ll just eat the burnt ones! It’s fine!” Sanji reassured.  
  
 5:38 pm. Everyone has finished eating and are now taking the time to bask in the warmth of their full stomachs…some more than others.  
  
 Luffy lies on the deck, once again bloated to the point where he looked like big puffer fish, and Aika and Kumi just can’t resist the temptation of jumping on his belly. Hell, even Usopp and Chopper join in on the fun, to everyone’s humor. Nami has a brief thought of charging her crewmates to use her fiance as a trampoline, but ultimately decides not to.  
  
 After all, that’s not who she was anymore…most of the time, anyway.  
  
 6:00 pm. The Straw Hats say their goodbyes to Hachi, Camie, and Pappug and continue on their way. Thanks to Hachi, Franky got a replacement bulb for the oven. Too full from dinner, the Straw Hats decided to skip having the cake that Sanji made, but the cook assured them it would be okay for them to eat it tomorrow.  
  
 As they sail on, Aika suddenly lets out a squeal of delight, causing everyone to gather around her and see that she is holding her beloved wolf plush, Timber, whom Kumi had sniffed out earlier. It turned out that she was riding on the Shark Submerge III yesterday and accidentally left him in there when she got sick, again.  
  
 “Now that I found Timber,” Aika started, “you can have Bananas back if you want, Big Brother.”  
  
 “Nah, Aika,” Luffy answered. “When I said you could have him, I meant it.”  
  
 Aika smiled before she went up and hugged her brother, who ruffled her hair affectionately.  
  
 “About time you decided to get rid of that stupid thing,” Zoro spoke up, only to earn a swat to the head from Nami. “Ow!”  
  
 “Oh, shut up,” Nami said. “I didn’t even hit you that hard.”  
  
 6:45 pm. The sun had almost completely set. The sky was now a violet-orange color, and the stars had just begun to appear. The Sunny drew closer to an island’s shoreline, which was covered in a thick blanket of white, powdery snow. Aika gasps happily upon seeing it and was eager to jump right in, but Luffy told her it was almost time for bed, so she didn’t have time to play in the snow.  
  
 “Aww, Big Brother~!” the younger D carrier complained. “Please? Just 10 minutes!”  
  
 Luffy is about to object…but once again, he falls prey to Aika’s secret weapon: her Puppy-Dog Eyes of Unimaginable Adorableness. One would have to have a heart of stone to be able to withstand such cuteness.  
  
 Luffy relents, and Aika transforms into her Wolf Form before jumping into the snow with Kumi and even Blizzard following after, the Canine Trio romping about in the cold, white powder. Eventually, even the Straw Hat Captain cannot resist and jumps on in with them, laughing as Aika chases him playfully, and before too long, Usopp and Chopper join the fray.  The rest of the crew can’t help but smile in amusement…until Franky speaks up.  
  
 “Uh…I’m not really worried about Little Sis, Snowy, Reindeer-Gorilla, and the pup, but…you think Luffy and Usopp will realize they don’t have coats on?”  
  
 As if on cue, Usopp and Luffy start shivering and holding each other for warmth.  
  
 “COLD!!!” they cry out, causing Blizzard to laugh.  
  
 7:25 pm. It’s time for lights out. Franky lowers the anchor and moors the ship to a tree root on the island. Zoro yawns as he goes into his and Robin’s room. Usopp is keeping watch tonight, so he goes up into the Crow’s Nest. Sanji, Brook, and Franky go into the Men’s Quarters, and Nami takes Aika and Kumi into the bathhouse, giving them a nice, lukewarm bath to take away the chill of the winter air and wash off any dirt and grime from the day. Once cleaned and dry, Aika puts on her pajamas and yawns.  
  
 Luffy takes over, bringing his younger half-sister into his arms and carrying her off to her room while Nami follows with an already snoozing Kumi. The two enter the young pirate’s room and lay both Aika and Kumi down on the bed. Luffy tucks Aika under the covers and kisses her forehead, and after exchanging their goodnight, he and Nami turn off the lights and leave.  
  
 The captain himself yawns as he climbs into his and Nami’s bed, all his seemingly endless energy just melting away and replaced with tiredness. He pulls off his cardigan and tosses it haphazardly on the floor before he just flops down on his pillow, not bothering to put the blanket over himself. Luckily, Nami is there to cover her fiance up for him, and not long after, she cuddles up to him, her arms wrapped around his chest, her fingers unconsciously tracing the X-shaped patch of burned flesh. Luffy puts his hand on hers, smiling at the warmth of her body.  
  
 “…I love ya, Nami.”  
  
 “I love you, too, Luffy…goodnight.”  
  
 With that, all of the Straw Hats are now sound asleep, resting up for whatever the next day brings.  
  
 It was all routine for the Straw Hats…expecting the unexpected.


End file.
